Sofia initiative targets leaded petrol and particulate pollution.     Photo: BTA EXHAUSTING: Pollution from traffic jams afflicts Sofia and other cities in this increasingly motorised region In the battle to counter the environmental impacts of economic progress, SILAQ provides the air support. The Sofia Initiative on Improvement of Local Air Quality promotes cooperation among air pollution control experts in developing and implementing ways to improve air quality in polluted urban areas. It relies on experience sharing between CEE countries in cooperation with Western partners. The initiative promotes the exchange of view on local air pollution control strategies; the harmonisation of policies, standards and regulations among the participating countries; and the development and implementation of national and municipal strategies to reduce airborne lead, particulates and sulphur in the cost-effective ways. It also promotes public information and citizen participation. SILAQ countries adopted national programmes. Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia supported the Local Air Pollution Initiative prior to the Sofia Conference in 1995. Bulgaria was appointed to chair the working group of representatives of the participating countries. During the project period the Czech Republic and Croatia joined the core working group. Government officials formed a SILAQ working group which participated actively in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Task Force on the elaboration of a pan-European strategy to phase out leaded petrol. The strategy was adopted at the Aarhus ministerial Conference in 1998. By now most countries have already banned lead petrol. SILAQ has been going for seven years with the financial support of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)and the government of Norway. Between the Aarhus and Kiev conferences, countries have been exchanging their experiences in phasing out leaded petrol as well as investigating and characterizing specific particulate matter (PM)pollution. Special portable equipment was purchased to measure quantities of airborne particulates of diameters between 2.5 and 10 microns, as well as total suspended particulates. Such measurements are not performed at the national level, making the information an important complement to existing data. The equipment can also measure pollution absorbed by the particulates. The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)is organising the consignments and transfer of the equipment through the project countries. SILAQ has paved new ways for CEE countries to get assistance. Being part of the Sofia Initiatives package, the project is based on voluntary cooperation of interested countries on issues of common interest. "The project combines exchange of experience on strategic and policy issues, and transfer of knowledge from Central to South Eastern Europe," said Mihail Staynov, SILAQ project manager. The unique pollution measurements provide solid evidence for authorities to base their decisions on, Staynov said.

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